As Apple Computer recalls, it wasn't Freeze-ups leave Mac owners with some chilly attitudes toward company

Apple Computer's "recall" of some desktop and laptop computersbecause of sudden sys tem freezing and other intermittent hardwareproblems set the phone and Internet lines buzzing last week. Half ofthe inquiries received here at Plugged In headquarters were fromdealers and other Apple-involved people who wanted to tell us thatthe company had not in fact issued a recall and that news storiessaying it had were incorrect. "It's a repair extension program, nota recall," they said.

Others wanted more details on what, if anything, Apple was doingto address hardware problems in their Macintosh computers.Finally, still other inquiries came from weary Macintosh ownersmiffed that their models weren't included in the announcement,because they have been experiencing repeated system errors, bombs andfreeze-ups with their new Apple computers.

All of the calls and electronic missives seemed to reinforce thenotion that there are a lot of frustrated Mac owners out there whoseloyalty to Apple is beginning to teeter because of presumed problemswith the Mac operating system. Most would probably be surprised tofind that the stability of their machines is no better or worse thanPC models. But that statistic does little to calm the jangled nervesof Mac users who believe they are being made to tolerate far moresystem snags than they should.

The complexities of Apple system software -- version 7.5.3 beingthe latest -- that must drive everything from the newest PowerPC tothe oldest Mac on the market are going to cause some problems. Buthow serious a problem does Apple have? Was Apple's announcement lastweek a concession that there is something inherently buggy lurking inthe MAC OS? And what causes all these freeze-ups and how many shouldwe tolerate before calling a repair service or, heaven forbid,exchanging our Mac for a PC?The recall that wasn't

First of all, the announcement last week that Apple had agreed torepair certain models was viewed as good news by Apple aficionadoswho for a long time believed there were hardware problems in specificmodels that the company had failed to address. But the "repairextension" applied only to Macs with the PowerPC 603 chip -- PowerMacintosh 5200/75 LC, 5300/100 LC; Macintosh Performa 5200, 5215,5300; and Macintosh Performa models 6200, 6205, 6214, 6216, 6218,6220, 6230, 6290, 6300. (The problem of too many darn models on themarket is something the company addressed this week when it finallysaid it was slimming the line.)

The move by Apple wasn't a recall because it applied only to thosemodels that were experiencing problems, i.e., occasional freezing andchanges in the color hues.

Some laptop models were included -- Powerbook 190, 190cs,Powerbook 5300, 5300cs, 5300c -- but in both cases Apple said it hadidentified specific hardware or design problems that resulted inoccasional freeze-ups or other relatively minor problems. Check withyour dealer or call (800) SOS-APPL for more details.What about me?

But wait, you say, I have a brand-new PowerPC that freezes all thetime. Is my computer defective? Probably not. I use a Power Mac7500/100 at both work and at home and, while I believe I sufferthrough more freeze-ups than I should, by far the majority of themare on-line or network related, or software related.

It's the price I (we) pay for trying to be on the cutting edge.If you are the type, like me, who has to have the latest version ofthe latest software, or if you run a lot of software still in betatesting, or cool shareware extensions and start-up programs, you'regoing to get a lot of freeze-ups.

"If you're willing to be conservative and go without all thelatest software and beta software, you'll hardly ever have systemcrashes," says Ted Landau, the author of "Sad Macs, Bombs, and OtherDisasters." "My wife is very conservative and rarely gets crashes onher Mac. While mine crashes probably four or five times a week."

A couple of particular culprits floating around in Macland areNetscape's Navigator, the popular web browser, and Free PPP, acontrol panel and extension used to establish Internet connections.The beta versions of Navigator 2.0 up to 3.0 seem particularlyunstable on the Mac and are prone to freezing and becoming corrupted(a shareware extension called Netscape Defroster is supposed to helpbut, in my experience, does not). If you want to cut down on crashesstick with a final, store-bought version of Navigator.

The PPP extension may be an even bigger problem. There are somany versions, with so many different numbers and features available,that most users don't have a clue about which one is better thananother. The newest, called FreePPP 2.5, was released recently asfree betaware and created untold problems on many Power Macs. Theauthors claim that a "bad build" of the installer is now fixed andthat the program works, but beware.

"I'm using PPP version 1.05 and have few problems," said Landau."I don't want to be anyone's beta tester."

If, after ridding yourself of all those extensions and controlpanels that you don't really need, you're still getting crashes,consider a clean installation of your system software. Simply insertyour system install disk or CD-ROM, click on the installer and thenpress Command-Shift-K. Then click the "Install new system software"button.

Don't worry about all of the other software on your hard disk: Itwon't be erased. And all of those control panels or extensions thatmay have been causing trouble will be stored in a file called"Previous System Folder." If you think it's safe, you can eventuallyreload those files, and start the process all over again.SIDEBARHelp is on the Net There are several good Internet sites to help you troubleshootproblems with your Macintosh. Among the best are:Macintouch: http://www.macintouch.com A daily roundup of the latests goings-on in the Mac kingdom.Sad Macs Home Page: http://www.oakland.edu/landau/sadmacs/index.htm.From the author of "Sad Macs, Bombs and Other Disasters," includesregular online updates to the book as well as many othertroubleshooting links and notes.The Macintosh Extensions Guide: http://terracom.net/jhaas/ext/.Help on what all those Mac extensions and control panels are supposedto do when they work properly.Casady & Greene Home Page: http://www.casadyg.com/C&G/Welcome.html.Not a troubleshooting page per se, but it offers free demos of thethe company's must-have utility Conflict Cather III, which keepstrack and diagnoses all of those troublesome extensions and controlpanels.GLOBE STAFF CHART